More of Wolfgang's Vault to be Opened for Downloads

Billboard reports that Wolfgang's Vault is opening its entire concert catalog for downloads. Prices will run $7.98 and $8.98 for MP3s and $11.98 and $12.98 for FLAC (lossless) recordings. That seems reasonable.

But wait. Is this really news? They already offer 375 titles for download (out of 2,906 total), including sets by the Kinks, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Santana, the Grateful Dead, and other big names in classic rock. Billboard says they'll "add more than 1,000 titles from 919 artists" on November 3 with more to follow. "The objective is that just about everything we stream we'll be able to download," says Vault CEO Bill Sagan. "By Christmas or slightly after Christmas we'll be closer to three-quarters."

So it's not really the entire concert catalog. Holdouts include Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, the Who and Dire Straits. But still. The additions will include "more than 160 Grateful Dead concerts as well as titles from artists such as Santana, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, Hall & Oates, Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jethro Tull, Chicago, Miles Davis, Dolly Parton, Merle Travis and many others." So this is definitely a cool development even if Billboard's headline is inaccurate.

I'm streaming a 1966 Muddy Waters show right now, and it's definitely badass.